Savings bank with an insertion slot safety mechanism and a key operated lock

ABSTRACT

A SAVINGS BANK WITH AN INSERTION SLOT SAFETY MECHANISM AND A BOLT LOCK OPERATED BY A KEY, IN WHICH THE BOLT LOCK IS SITUATED BELOW THE INSERTION SLOT SAFETY MECHANISM AND CAN BE OPERATED BY MEANS OF A KEY WHICH CAN BE INTRODUCED INTO THE INSERTION SLOT.

March 20, 1973 H. KRONE ET AL SAVINGS BANK WITH AN INSERTION SLOT SAF'E'I'Y F l 4 1970 MECHANISM AND A KEY OPERATED LOCK 2 Sheets-Sheet l HEINZ KRONE WILHELM HOFFMANN lnven {org E E/2 /mawam v ATTORNEYS March 20, 1973 KRONE ETAL 3,721,385

SAVINGS BANK WITH AN INSERTION SLOT SAFFY'IY MECHANISM AND A KEY OPERATED LOCK Filed Dec. 4, 1976 2 Sheets-Shut 2 United States Patent 6 U.S. Cl. 232-4 R 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A savings bank with an insertion slot safety mechanism and a bolt lock operated by a key, in which the bolt lock is situated below the insertion slot safety mechanism and can be operated by means of a key which can be introduced into the insertion slot.

The invention relates to a savings bank with an insertion slot safety mechanism and a lock, operated by a key, on the locking piece of the removal opening.

Savings banks of this type are known from German Pat. 357,532 and French Pat. 706,981. In the case of these known savings banks the lock is located next to the insertion slot safety mechanism. This results in an elongated shape of the locking piece. This arrangement is not usable in the case of round savings banks because of the large diameter involved.

The invention therefore has the object of making it possible to obtain a reduction in space in the arrangement of the insertion slot safety mechanism and in the locking piece of the savings bank. This object is achieved in the case of a savings bank of the kind described above, according to the invention, in that the lock is situated below the insertion slot safety mechanism and is operated by means of a key which can be introduced through the insertion slot. Through this arrangement of the lock below the insertion slot safety mechanism the require ment for space is considerably reduced with respect to the insertion slot safety mechanism, so that this arrange ment can also be used in the case of round savings banks with small diameter.

A further development of the invention is that the bolt lock is situated symmetrically to the insertion slot which is provided centrally in the locking piece. Hereby allowance is made for the requirement for an interlocking of the locking piece with respect to the body of the savings bank which interlocking is as uniform as possible since because of the symmetrical arrangement several bolts can be arranged at the periphery of the locking piece.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the hole for inserting the key into the middle of the insertion slot is arranged transversely to the insertion slot.

A particularly low built arrangement can be achieved in that the insertion slot safety mechanism has locking clasps which are guided adjustably and independently cf one another transversely with respect to the insertion slot. The front ends of these locking clasps are offset downwards and the rear ends of these locking clasps are each supported on a common spring element located on the respective side. Since the locking clasps are housed adjustably in the plane of the locking piece and therefore require considerably less space in elevation than is the case for the known tiltingly housed locking clasps only a small total height is required for the overall layout of the insertion slot safety mechanism and the bolt lock. This advantageous shape of the insertion slot safety mechanism is the subject of our copending patent appliice cation and entitled Savings Bank Insertion Slot Safety Mechanism.

Preferably the bolting mechanism is composed of two double-armed pairs of swivel bolts which are moved into the unlatched position by means of the key and into the latched or bolted position by means of spring tension in which they engage with the free ends in recesses of the savings bank wall. In this embodiment, preferably only one swivel bolt is supported on the key in the unlatched position while the other swivel bolt is held with a resting surface on the first swivel bolt in the unlatched position, into which it moves during a partial rotation of the key which presses against a projection of the part of the double-armed swivel bolt which serves as an operating arm.

The invention is represented in the drawing by way of example in which:

FIG. 1 is a top view of a savings bank according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows the insertion slot safety mechanism;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are cross sections through the locking piece of the savings bank according to lines III-III of FIG. 5 with and without an inserted coin respectively;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are bottom views of the locking piece with partially broken-away cover plate and various positions of the bolt lock; and

FIG. 7 is a cross section taken along the lines VII-- VII of FIG. 5.

The locking piece 1 of a savings bank (not shown) is shaped like a lid which can be placed on the edge of a savings bank body and is composed of a housing 2 and a cover plate 3 the diameter of which is smaller than that of the housing. The housing has an annular collar 4 which protrudes over the cover plate 3 whereby a gap 5 remains between the edge of the cover plate 3 and the collar 4 into which the edge of the savings bank body engages in the case of the erected locking piece. The housing 2 and the cover plate 3 are kept at a distance from one another by means of flanges 6 and 7 so that they define an inside space 8.

In this inside space defined by the housing 2 and the cover plate 3 there is provided on the one hand a safety mechanism 9, designed as a built-in unit, for the insertion slots 10 and 11 situated in the housing and in the cover plate respectively and on the other hand the bolt lock 12 which is located directly below the insertion slot safety mechanism 9.

The insertion slot mechanism 9 is composed of an intermediate plate 13 attached to the inside of the housing 2 and provided with recesses 14 and 15. In the recesses 14 locking clasps 16 are guided transversely to the insertion slots 10, 11 and their front ends 17, which are offset downwards, reach in their locking position up to the middle of the insertion slot. The rear truncated ends 18 of the locking clasps 16 are supported against a spring cushion 19 in the shape of a beam which is made of elastic foamy material. The spring cushions 19 are held in the recesses 15 of the intermediate plate 13. When a coin 20 is inserted, the locking clasps 16 are pressed apart against the spring tension of the spring cushion 19 which thereby deforms, as is shown in FIG. 4. On both sides of them the locking clasps 16 have recesses 21 into which projections 22 engage at both sides of the recesses 14 serving for longitudinal guiding, whereby the length of the recesses 14 is greater by the amount of the necessary shift path of the locking clasps than the dimension of the projections 22 in the longitudinal direction of the locking clasps.

Below the insertion slot safety device 9 there is provided a bolt lock 12 which is essentially composed of two identically shaped pairs of swivel bolts 23 and 24 (only one pair of whichis shown) which move to the unlatched position by means of a key denoted by 25 and which move into the locked position by means of the force of springs 26 which are situated between the individual pairs of bolts. Each pair of swivel bolts is composed of two doublearmed levers 23 and 24 which are pivoted about axles 27. The pairs of swivel bolts have identically shaped bolt arms 28 which in the locked position (FIG. project into the gap 5 and engage there into openings (not shown) in the upper edge of the body of the savings bank. The operating arms 29 and 30 of the swivel bolts 23 and 24 which are associated to one another are shaped differently. Whereas the operating arm 29 of the swivel bolt 23 is shaped in the form of a wide plate the edge of which reaches in locking position of the swivel bolt up to the vicinity of the middle of the insertion slot, the operating arm 30 of the swivel bolt 24 is hook shaped and has an additional projection 31. In the vicinity of its outer end the hook-shaped operating arm 30 has a resting surface 32 with which this operating arm supports itself on a pivot 33 of the operating arm 29 in the unlatched position.

In this unlatched position the swivel bolts reach through the key 25 which is introduced into a key-insertion hole 34 which is situated in the middle of the insertion slots 10, 11 and transversely to it. The key 25 has two key-bit surfaces 35 and 36 set off in pairs against one another which are arranged symmetrically to the key shank. The key-bit surface 35 engages the operating arm 29 with which it also remains in engagement in the completely unlatched position, while the key-bit surface 36 engaging the projection 31 of the operating arm 30 leaves this projection after a partial turning of the key. At this point surface 32 of operating arm 30 engages pivot 33 of the operating arm 29 and is held thus in the unlatched position until the time that the key returns to the initial position in which the key-bit surface 35 is released from the operating arm 29. In this latched position, which is represented in FIG. 5, the swivel bolts return through the action of the springs 26 which engage the bolt arms 28.

What is claimed is:

1. In a savings bank, a removable cover for the bank comprising an outer cover housing and an inner plate parallel with and spaced from said cover housing, aligned coin insertion slots in said housing and inner plate, a safety mechanism for the insertion slot comprising a plurality of pairs of blocking tongues mounted between the housing and the plate for transverse movement relative to the insertion slot, and a locking mechanism below the safety mechanism for locking the cover to the bank that is operated by a key introduced through the insertion slot, said locking mechanism comprising at least one pair of latch bolts pivotally mounted to said inner plate between the plate and the safety mechanism for movement in a plane parallel to the cover housing between a locked position where the cover is locked to the bank and an unlocked position, resilient means for maintaining the latches in locked position, a key way in the insertion slot for receipt of a key compatible with said latches, both of said latches extending into the insertion slot for engagement by a key whereby a pivotable movement of said key pivots both said latches to unlocked position.

2. A bank, according to claim 1, wherein the blocking tongues abut in the middle of the insertion slot and the front ends of the blocking tongues are bent away from the cover housing and a common spring element located at the rearward ends of the tongues for urging the blocking tongues into closed position.

3. A bank, according to claim 1, wherein the locking mechanism consists of two pairs of pivotable latch bolts simultaneously pivoted into unlocked position by the key.

4. A savings bank, according to claim 3, wherein only one latch of each pair of latches is engaged by the key and means interconnecting the latches of each pair, whereby pivotable movement of the latch engaged by the key causes corresponding pivotable movement of the other latch into the same position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 797,172 8/1905 Chambers 232-6 845,908 3/1907 Vaughn 232-4 R 848,302 3/ 1907 Harvey 2326 898,206 9/1908 Fisher 2324 1,459,424 6/1923 Wagar 2324 R 1,804,726 5/1931 Warren 232--4 R 2,622,365 12/ 1952 Grow 232-4 R FOREIGN PATENTS 91,970 6/1958 Norway 232-4 R 295,872 8/1928 Great Britain 232-4 R 363,780 12/1931 Great Britain 2324 R FRANCIS K. ZUGEL, Assistant Examiner 

